Page 14 of 80% Beef 20% Cake (Alien Fated Mates #2)

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“ I ’ll give you some time to think about it.” I marched away from Makir and a bewildered JayJay along the molten river, sweat beading on my brow. They didn’t deserve my wrath, and I felt like I might explode at any second. The sea of blue moss under my feet cushioned my steps, but its softness did nothing to buffer my foul mood. The magma hissed and spat, the perfect accompaniment to my rage.

Geo had set me up to fall flat on my face. Asshole. I couldn’t believe he’d never told JayJay why I was here. What an idiot. And JayJay… I had no idea what was going on in his big bald head, but he’d looked terrified.

Sooner than I wanted, I found myself at the cavern’s end. The molten river continued into the adjacent cave, but it was a dead end for me. I sank into a seat of woven vines. They trailed from the domed ceiling of the cavern, creating swings on occasion. Miniature dragonfly-type insects buzzed through the air in swarms, lighting the dim cavern in sunny swaths like the Milky Way across the night sky.

My bangs were plastered to my forehead, and although the humid air eased my joints, the long walk had left my knees and hips swollen and aching. I was out of options. And you’re acting like a five-year-old. Without a willing Rock Dweller’s assistance, I’d never be able to return to Earth. And if I didn’t return to Earth, I’d never compete in the World’s Best Designer Championship.

I massaged my knee with one thumb and pushed off the springy ground, swinging the vines. It wasn’t Geo’s responsibility to tell JayJay. Instead of wallowing, avoiding my weakening condition all last week, I should’ve taken the initiative.

My anger vanished as I pumped the swing higher. I needed a major attitude adjustment. Poor, bewildered JayJay. He was always so nice, under all his bossiness, that it had caught me off guard when he told me to pack up. It had stung that he didn’t want me there. But if I’d just bucked up and spilled the beans, I knew he would’ve asked me to stay right from the start.

But what had I done instead? I had a freakin’ tantrum in the middle of the kitchen . My arms pulled taut, and my hair swept over the ground before I shot back toward the rounded ceiling.

Blood rushed to my head at the thought of buckling down and asking for help, but it could get me home. More than anything, I wanted to shout ‘YES’ to Global Design’s invite. I launched myself into the air, not giving a lick about my joints, soaring into the soft moss.

Manic laughter overcame me as I sank into the springy bed, but as I lay there, the decision to move forward with the treatment settled in my bones with a sense of rightness. The vial Doctor Ten had given me hadn’t left my side, and I reached for it. Even though I couldn’t wrap my head around how a Rock Dweller and human could produce offspring, having a child right now did not line up with my career goals. I broke the seal, brought the shimmery liquid to my lips and downed the contents.

If JayJay agreed, we could keep the treatment professional, right? I lied to myself, spreading my limbs out like a starfish. It would be impossible for me to stay detached if I was sleeping with him on the regular. I let the searing heat of the kiss we’d shared last week overtake my senses and sank deeper into the sea of moss. Why did he have to be so damn overbearing and likable at the same time?

It would be easy to maintain emotional distance with a few simple steps. There would be no waking up in his strong arms, wrapped in his earth and musk smell. There would be no long conversations over shared meals. I would ask Sisip for my own room. Our interactions would be one hundred percent transactional. In and out—literally.

I also didn’t want to mess up JayJay’s plans. I saw the way he looked at TeyTey and Sully. He might not know it yet, but he wanted a life companion, and I didn’t want to get in the way of that.

With that settled, I dragged myself back to the kitchen, snapping pictures of pretty columns of stacked mushrooms ringing the stalactites above. The enormous cavern buzzed with energy and camaraderie as I walked into the eating area. My stomach growled, and I ladled graneth groats into a bowl, shoveling down spoonfuls while I hunted for a seat. A table full of dark-skinned Boola appeared to be butchering a mantu on a large plastic sheet. Two Nacers played a card game across from each other, wings spread wide behind them and towels hanging loosely around their necks.

I really needed a shower and to talk with JayJay, but I couldn’t pass by Efred without comment. He appeared to be attempting to repair his pants with one arm still in a sling.

“Morning, Ginger.” Efred’s purple scales shimmered under the brighter lights strung through the vines overhead. “How was your night with Protector JayJay?” he asked, grinning as if the imagined conquest were his own.

I searched for something to say that wouldn’t diminish JayJay’s reputation among his team. “I had the best sleep ever.” That truth surprised me. I may have woken up stuck on this planet, hating that my illness forced me to rely on people, but before that, I had been in a deep, peaceful sleep.

The Drack snickered. A plume of smoke circled his nose. “Yeah, I hear vigorous activity before sleep can tire a mate out.”

“I’m not his mate.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder, ignoring the rest of his comment. My mind betrayed me though, and I swallowed a moan as an image of JayJay in the leather pants I’d made, and nothing else, made my mouth water with a different sort of hunger. Scooching beside Efred on the bench, I plucked the needle and thread from his good hand, desperate for a distraction.

“Here, let me help you with this.” With a familiar twist of my fingers, I knotted the thread and swiftly stitched the long rip over his thigh.

Surrounded by gold, his dark, slitted pupils pulsed open and closed. “I’ve been working on that for ages. Thank you.”

His appreciation filled a void in me. I’d always been competent, but with my career torn out from under me and my lack of control fighting this illness, the gratitude in his strange eyes meant more than he would know. “It’s no big deal. I’m a costume designer by trade. I could repair a ripped pair of pants in my sleep.”

“You’re a seamstress?” Efred’s dark purple scales were the same color as the hiscus flower I used to dye JayJay’s leather armor.

The weight of at least three sets of eager eyes landed on me.

“A costume designer,” I corrected, smiling at the glowing dragonfly-like creature with fuzzy tentacles zipping by.

“I don’t know what that is, but it means you sew, right?” His long tongue uncoiled, and he lassoed the bug out of the air and into his mouth.

Welp, I didn’t see that every day. I shuddered. I’d planned on leaving after breakfast to shower, but in the blink of an eye, a pile of clothes, some in shreds, overflowed the table in front of me.

Efred adjusted his sling, and his shoulders shook. “We’re going to keep you busier than Protector JayJay.”

I’d missed the rush of feeling useful. How could I say no to all these hopeful smiles? Instead of showering and searching for JayJay, I spent hours in the kitchen workspace mending clothes.

A Boola with a shaved head and a long row of stitches across his scalp prepared a massive tinga salad on the table beside us. “There’s no way to take on hellsna face-to-face.”

“All we can do is dodge and evade and hope not to be squashed like starbugs.” The Tig next to me flicked his tawny ears, slashed the thread from his sloppy repair with a claw and limped to the pile of torn garments for another item.

Efred snorted. “Saluda told me all about Protector JayJay and his showdown with some starbugs last rotation.”

The whole table laughed as Efred retold the story, but it became clear to me that hellsna were not easily killed and that JayJay kept throwing himself in the line of fire.

A weary-eyed Sisip joined our table, laughing after catching the tail end of Efred’s story. “How’s the arm, Efred?”

She checked in with each of her injured enforcers while I waited, hoping and praying, to ask my question. When Sisip bit into her sandwich, I jumped at the opening. “Are there any free rooms I could stay in for a bit?”

She rubbed over the striped fur on her tawny chin. “We might be able to squeeze you in with Shaheel… Nope, that won’t work. I just remembered…” Sisip held up a claw-tipped finger as she pressed the com behind her ear and listened. “Right, on my way.” In the next second, she plucked her sandwich off the tray and rose from her seat. “Rest up, enforcers. We need you back in the action.” Then she darted away.

I supposed asking her about something so trivial while she took a quick break from fending off hellsna was pretty dumb and selfish.

The round door Geo had built for JayJay loomed in front of me. Behind it, the small alcove, once a cozy refuge, now set my frantic heart drumming.

The last time I’d been in a serious relationship, I didn’t have a plan. I’d been twenty-two years old, kicked out of my apartment by a cheating boyfriend I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. Brokenhearted and homeless, without Geo, I would’ve spiraled. Plans were a good thing. I fidgeted with the strap of my shower bag, slung over one shoulder. Out of excuses, I picked up the twisted metal knocker and tapped it against the wood.

I didn’t have a clue how to do this.

“Enter.” JayJay’s deep voice boomed.

Nerves overpowered my tired, achy body. Without the hiti mushroom JayJay had dumped in my water earlier, I would’ve been dead on my feet. I swallowed, bounced on my toes and shook out my fingers, swollen from a day of sewing. You can do this.

I placed one foot on the stair Geo had added for me, held my breath and slid the door along its track.

Awash in a warm orange glow, JayJay stood shirtless, rubbing a salve over his scalp. I bit back my gasp and forced a normal breath. An abrasion ran down his left shoulder to his elbow. It glistened with the balm already. His earth and musk smell mixed with the piney ointment, and saliva pooled in my mouth. Solid muscles packed his stomach in square slabs, and his shoulders were as round as boulders.

“Ginger…” My name hung in the air, the salve forgotten.

His forest-green eyes roamed up and down, assessing me the way a doctor’s might. Good, those were the types of looks that would keep our ‘business’ strictly professional. But when his gaze caught mine and held, his expression changed. Concern morphed into something that sent butterflies zooming through my belly. Attraction. And adoration. Attraction would make things easier, but adoration was a look that led to more. I’d never gotten far with more in the past.

I have to get home. Not hung up on an alien that lives on another planet.

He took a step toward me, body shining. I gulped. He would’ve made a fortune back on Earth as an oiled-up stripper.

“Ginger…” He closed the door behind me. “Where have you been?”

“Giving you space to think this through.” My voice wobbled and I forced myself to keep things professional.

JayJay strode toward me, miles of muscles on display. “I care about you, Ginger—”

No. No. No. There would be absolutely no caring involved. Voice detached, I interrupted. “I’ve forwarded you the report from Dr. Ten so you can see the treatment plan yourself. If you agree, I’m hoping we can begin at once. On the off chance that this…procedure works, I would like to return to Earth as soon as possible. Any Rock Dweller will do, so please feel no obligation.” I counted on JayJay’s protective instincts to keep me from begging Sannit or Tino. I couldn’t stomach asking them.

His nose flared, and his forehead ridge formed a deep vee. The butterflies in my stomach stilled. Anger creased his mouth, and he stiffened, throwing up a metal shield that turned him rigid and guarded. Any sign of adoration vanished.

“Geo explained everything. I agree to assist.” He spoke as if he were issuing orders to his team.

“Why did you act like you didn’t know why I was here, then?” I stood just inside the room in the soft moss, not knowing whether I should come in farther or not.

“I lost my wristport on my last mission and only learned when Sisip gave me a replacement a couple of suns ago.”

“Right.” Fuck! At least I hadn’t gone off on Geo to his face.

“The other Rock Dwellers have come to Tern seeking life companions. Unless you plan to spend your life with one, you would crush their dreams.” He plucked at a frayed string on his tattered pants. “I know there’s no life companion in my future. I’m the better choice.”

This wasn’t working at all. I’m not here to crush anyone’s dreams. Jaw tight, I massaged my aching fingers for a moment and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.” A careful glimpse at his tight shoulders told me he was still frustrated. Though I wondered what he meant about a future life companion, I wouldn’t allow myself to become sidetracked again. “I’m taking my anger over this stupid disease out on you and Geo when you’ve both done nothing but help me.” I approached him with a hesitant step and removed the salve from his clenched fist. “Let me.”

JayJay grunted.

“Sit, so I can reach you.” I tugged on his hand, and he dropped cross-legged to the blanket. Cool and fragrant like a coniferous forest, I scooped up the salve and spread it over the biggest trapezius I’d ever seen. When my touch lightened as I passed over a deep green bruise swallowing up most of his rib cage, he sighed.

“You want a more experienced Rock Dweller, then? Is that the problem?”

Where had that come from? The back of his neck remained tight where I kneaded the liniment in. I cursed at myself for saying the wrong thing yet again. “That’s not it at all. I don’t want to force anyone into having sex with me.”

This conversation sucked, but having it with his back instead of his face helped. I worked my thumb against a knot between his shoulder blade and spine. The ache from my swollen knuckles became secondary while I tried to ease the tension from the wall of muscles that made up JayJay.

He cleared his throat. “I’m willing.”

JayJay’s rough voice sent my belly swirling, and I waved air into my clingy shirt. I stood so close to him that heat poured from him in waves, making the sticky, humid room hotter. “As friends, right? I got your back, you’ve got mine, kinda thing.”

He grunted. “I can be your friend.”

Great, now what? I straightened my spine. “Shall we start tonight then?” My voice wavered when I walked in front of him and set down the jar of ointment, but I was determined to do what needed to be done, despite my heart’s warning.

“N-now?” JayJay whispered. A quiet JayJay unnerved me. His eyes flickered with hesitation before they became guarded once more.

If he’d given me his first kiss and women on Yagras were rare, then… How had I never connected the dots before? I wouldn’t steal his virginity. Not sure if he would be receptive to the question, I tackled it head-on. “Is this your first time?”

Rooted to the ground, he sat cross-legged with one fist on each bent knee. JayJay blinked, emptying his lust-filled eyes as if unsure how to respond. Just when I thought he might walk away and say to hell with this friendship business, he nodded.

“Forget it. That’s too big of a sacrifice.” I walked toward my suitcase, ready to call the whole thing off. There had to be another way.

The knot in his throat bobbed up and down. “It’s no sacrifice. I want to…help.”

“But…” I stared at him, trying to form an argument in my muddy brain.

“Ginger, you need help now. It’s an honor to aid a female in need.”

My heart thrummed as the deep rasp of his voice rolled down my spine. Though I didn’t understand fully how this would affect JayJay, I trusted him to make his own decisions. And though the rational part of my mind objected, every fiber of my physical being urged me to agree.

“Come to me,” he said.

Captured in his green gaze, I untied my boots and moved to stand before him.

He stood and stepped in so close I thought I might combust from his heat. A strange whimpering sound left me when his abraded knuckles touched my stomach and untied the belt on my wrap. As if he had all the time in the world, he removed my shirt inch by aching inch.

My heart raced as he crouched to remove my leggings, running his velvety nose down my bare thigh. Never had so little gotten me so hot.

On shaky legs, I stood before him in a pair of teal panties and a matching satin bra, drinking in his red-hot need. He leaned backward to take in the view and squeezed the bulge growing stiff in his pants with one huge hand, as if unaware of what he was doing.

I moved closer. Close enough that I could place my palm on his chest and feel his body tremble when I dragged my hand down to his belt buckle.

He placed his hand over mine to stop it. “Can I kiss you?”